SunPower building 86MW South African solar plant

Monday, 20 April 2015 15:30

Prieska will be the third solar power plant that SunPower has built in South Africa. (Image source: Mark Udall/Flickr)SunPower has announced that it has begun building an 86MW solar power plant in South Africa's Northern Cape

The US-based solar energy company said work on Prieska Solar Power Plant, which is located in South Africa's Northern Cape province, will be completed by 2016, creating around 700 jobs.

The third facility of its kind that SunPower has built in the country, Prieska will be equipped with Oasis® technology, which the company says uses single-axis trackers to position solar panels to face the sun throughout the day, increasing energy capture by up to 25 per cent over fixed-tilt solar technology.

“With an abundance of reliable, cost-effective solar resources, South Africa is one of the fastest growing solar markets in the world today,” said Sunpower CEO Tom Werner.

“We are pleased to grow our presence in South Africa with the development of solar power plants that enable South Africa’s government to achieve its renewable goals, and look forward to continuing to serve the region with the opening of our new solar panel manufacturing plant this year.”

Once complete, Prieska will sell its electricity to state-owned utility firm Eskom, helping to reduce the energy deficit that has caused persistent blackouts in South Africa in recent years.